2002 Mega Movie Guide

December 20, 2002

Sterritt ** A rapper called Rabbit lives an unhappy life in a trailer with his amoral mom, spending his time with a racially mixed group of friends and learning to express his anger in rhythmic rhymes that win the big rap competition (surprise!) that climaxes the story. Eminem plays his movie-debut role with a sullen naiveté that's not very interesting, and Hanson's directing has little vigor apart from kinetic camerawork and very, very, very large amounts of yelling on the soundtrack.

Sterritt **** The setting is a fine French country house. The mystery: which of several excellent suspects murdered the aging gentleman who owned it? Ozon fills the screen with suspense and surprises in this colorful comedy-thriller-musical-romance, helped by a superb cast and a mischievous sense of fun that keeps you guessing whether the next moment will bring a triumph, a tragedy, or a little song and dance. In French with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** A smug lawyer, a spunky cleaning woman, a cynical businessman, and other diverse characters grapple with personal and professional problems that challenge their ideas about the nature of happiness and fulfillment. Arkin is the standout in the superb cast, and the screenplay by Sprecher and co-writer Karen Sprecher doesn't flinch from discussing science, philosophy, and other things that grownups actually talk about.

Sterritt **** This lively look at the rock scene in Manchester, England, begins with impresario Antony Wilson's discovery of the Sex Pistols in 1976 and ends with the demise of his influential Factory Records label in the early '90s. Coogan is dazzling as Wilson, and candid treatment of the era's problem with drugs and violence keeps the film from partying too much for its own good.

Sterritt **** A young drug dealer tries to come to terms with his past on the day before he leaves for a seven-year prison term. The movie is flawed by implausible psychology and moments of weak acting. But it's more than redeemed by Lee's passionate ideas about America today, which he sees as plagued by evils of violence and materialism, yet unbounded in its possibilities and unquenchable in its spirit. He's a unique filmmaker, and this uneven drama is truly one of a kind.

Staff * Seeking solace after a breakup with his ex-girlfriend, a young man seems unable to break his habit of engaging in one-night stands. So, for Lent, he takes a vow of celibacy. With enough ribald humor to make the cast of "American Pie" blush, this comedy tries in vain to soften its edginess by having the sex-starved character fall in love. The overall result: too few laughs, and a story that paints men as leering leches and women as wanton profligates. By Stephen Humphries

Staff ** A college senior (Holmes) is being harassed by a former boyfriend, who has been missing and presumed dead for two years. This first directing effort by screenwriter Gaghan ("Traffic") generates a few suspenseful moments, but its leaps between past, present, and future are more confusing than artful. The muddled surprise ending lacks much punch. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt * Grant plays a mischievous bachelor who pretends he has a child so he can hunt wooable women in a single-parents club. He then becomes the unexpected friend of a real 12-year-old who needs help to overcome his geekiness. Hoult is excellent as the kid, but there's little he or Grant can do with the movie's most mawkish moments.

Sterritt *** After his wife's unexpected death, a retired man rethinks his future and reevaluates his past while traveling across the Midwest to his daughter's wedding, where his discontents grow greater than ever. Nicholson's acting is awesome, and Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor haven't lost their ear for the empty aphorisms of middle-class speech.

Staff ** Bitterness over losing both parents 20 years ago has turned Davey Stone into the town drunk. Yet as Hanukkah begins, Whitey, the basketball league's retiring referee, sees through the Grinch-like façade and hopes to make Davey his replacement. Tasteless gags and language undermine the moments of warmth and comic brilliance.

Sterritt *** A fictional doppelganger of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman struggles to write the screenplay of this film, dogged by the success of his (totally fictional) twin brother and spurred by his bashful admiration for the journalist who wrote the nonfiction book he's trying to adapt, about a man who's obsessed with tracking down rare orchids. The film is less confusing than it sounds, and it's great mazelike fun until it bogs down in familiar chase-picture conventions near the end.

Staff *1/2 It's 2087, and reformed smuggler Pluto Nash (Murphy) gets out of the slammer and opens the moon's most popular nightclub. When he refuses to sell to a gangster, the kingpin blows up the club and sends his goons to kill Nash. With colossal sets, a remarkable cast, and hundreds of extras, this sci-fi spoof of '30s movies should be funny, but it falls flat. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** After the death of a novelist's child, her mother kidnaps a child for her to raise. The grief-stricken woman decides to accept this illegal scheme when she learns her little houseguest may come from an abusive home. Miller spins an engrossing story combining psychological drama, sociological reflection, and suspense. In French with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** Lily Chou-Chou is a pop star we hardly see, and the key characters are Japanese adolescents who use idealized fantasies of her as respite from the routines and power games that oppress them at school and play. Iwai's ambitious drama is strikingly shot and poignantly acted by a splendid young cast. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Sterritt *** This film provides a downbeat portrait of Britain's working poor, focusing on an unhappy cab driver, his common-law wife, and their two grown kids, who make up in girth what they lack in civility. Leigh is at his best when etching their experiences and showing how a catastrophe delivers a crushing blow to their meager amount of hard-won comfort, and then encourages them toward new levels of loyalty and understanding.

Sterritt * Sequel to the 1999 hit "Analyze This," reuniting De Niro as an organized-crime boss and Crystal as the psychotherapist who listens to his troubles and secrets. The movie adds new twists to the situation - making the mobster technical adviser to a TV show that's apparently meant as a "Sopranos" satire - but nobody on or off the screen seems excited with rehashing the one-joke original.

Sterritt ** This is a fact-based drama about a Navy psychiatrist (Washington) who treats a violence-prone sailor (Luke) by encouraging him to probe his abusive childhood that he has long repressed. Although it's touching and sincere, Washington's directorial debut is weakened by a too-slow pace and a story that offers few real surprises.

Sterritt ** A young man explains to a troubled customs official why a film he's making - about the horrific treatment of Armenians by Turks in the World War I era - has strong reverberations in his own Armenian-Canadian family; this sparks a series of flashbacks, film-within-a-film scenes, and episodes from the present day. Egoyan, an Armenian-Canadian, is one of Canada's most ambitious filmmakers, but the power of this intricate drama falls short, despite his personal investment in the subject.

Sterritt * Our hero battles Dr. Evil and a villain he's recruited from 1975 to help him destroy the world. The third Powers movie wants to be a flashy, funny satire on the swinging '70s. What's really on filmmakers' minds is how much box-office power they can tap into by blitzing viewers with even larger doses of repetitive sex jokes and insipid scatological gags than before.

Sterritt *** This film documents the rise and fall of Bob Crane ("Hogan's Heroes"), who ruined his life and career when he befriended a technology wonk and participated in living-room orgies recorded by his sleazy companion with video equipment. Kinnear gives a pitch-perfect performance as the self-destructive actor, and Schrader offers one of his most harrowing explorations of the dangers of sensuality.

Sterritt ** A streetwise hustler is drafted by the CIA to replace his killed-in-action twin on a mission to seize a contraband nuclear device. Rock and Hopkins give performances so different you'd think they were spliced together from two movies. This is fun to watch for a while, but the picture runs much too long, and most of the comedy writing is lame.

Staff * Sever, a beautiful, deadly ex-agent from a shadowy government agency, has kidnapped the son of another shadowy government agent. It's up to Ecks, a retired FBI agent, to stop her and get the child back, while the two of them blow up everything in their way. The subplots are so complicated, it's difficult to keep up, let alone care. The fight choreography is good, but not good enough to make this mess worthwhile. By Alex Kaloostian

Staff **1/2Former rock groupie Suzette (Hawn) wants to reconnect with her friend "Vinny" (Sarandon) in Phoenix. The problem is, it's 20 years later, and Vinny isn't a wild woman anymore. Known to family and friends as Lavinia Kingsley, she lives in a big house with her lawyer-husband, two daughters, and a golden retriever. This hilarious romp looks like a shallow film, but it addresses family tensions, peer pressure, and the need to just let loose later in life. By Lisa Leigh Connors

Sterritt **** The unglamorous setting is an Iranian construction site, and the unlikely hero is an Iranian man who falls in love with an Afghan woman after a string of misadventures with an illegal immigrant who works with him. Majidi became one of Iran's most internationally famed filmmakers with "Children of Heaven" and "The Color of Paradise," but he far surpasses those sappy melodramas with this story of rivalry, romance, and cultural conflict. In Farsi with English subtitles.

Staff **1/2 The barbershop is the center of life for a group of neighborhood guys, although its owner, Calvin, sees the shop as a money drain. When an ATM is stolen from a nearby store by a modern Laurel and Hardy, the shop becomes gossip central. If every barbershop were this much fun, there would be a lot more well-trimmed men. By Katie Nesse

Staff ** Glover is remarkably consistent as the stonefaced new hire in a public-records office, who "would prefer not" to do anything but filing, and then not to do anything at all, even leave after he's fired. This snide commentary on government work is well cast. But it runs out of gas as it moves - faithful to its source, Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" - to a sad conclusion. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** Guei is a country boy filled with enthusiasm over his new job as a big-city courier until his new bike gets stolen before it's even paid for. This quickly paced comedy-drama careens from lowdown humor to anxiety and violence as briskly as the protagonists steer from one crowded avenue to another on their contested bike. The film occasionally meanders from its course, but it's vividly acted. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** Gosling plays a 20-something Jew with a deadly hatred of Jewish life, faith, and history whose friends range from rage-filled local thugs to a pair of intellectual neofascists. Based on a real case history, Bean's screenplay paints an excruciatingly vivid portrait of the most dangerous person a tolerant society can have - a zealot who's as mentally agile as he is morally misguided. The result is a stunningly smart, disturbing drama.

Sterritt *** Howard plays a cranky Mississippi writer who spends hours drinking with his buddy, feuding with his ex-wife, worrying about his kids, and collecting rejection slips. He also deals with such traumatic events as a death in the family. The filmmakers clearly see him as a creative maverick, but he's really a likable cliché. The movie's best asset is Howard's filmmaking.

Staff *** A Hollywood producer steals the English essay of an eighth-grader and inveterate liar (Muniz), and turns it into a film. Naturally, his parents and teacher don't believe the teen. To regain their trust, he and his girlfriend head to Tinseltown to extort a confession. The resulting romp through Universal Studios will amuse older children and their parents. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt * A sleazy businessman acquires a mysterious suitcase in a Miami saloon, confusing all kinds of people including his unhappy wife, two hitmen hired to whack him, and two idiotic FBI agents. The filmmakers wanted to make a comedy about couples, but there's so little chemistry between these pairs that the theme never picks up energy.

Birthday Girl (R)

Director: Jez Butterworth. With Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin. (93 min.)

Staff ** It must have taken Nicole Kidman months to learn this script. For her role as Nadia, an Internet-order bride from Russia, the actress spends half the movie speaking Russian. Arriving in England, Nadia is met by her intended, John, a lonely, bore of a banker. Nadia isn't all she seems; John soon finds his British reserve punctured as his life spirals out of control. The movie isn't as lively as Kidman's performance. By Stephen Humphries

Sterritt **** Two teachers, seeking students in the mountains along the border between Iran and Iraq, find new uses for the blackboards they've been toting when a military attack separates them from their colleagues and puts them into close contact with the hard realities of existence in the region. Makhmalbaf continues her rise as Iran's most promising young female filmmaker, and Iranian cinema extends its reign as one of the world's most exciting cultural phenomena. In Kurdish with English subtitles.

Staff *** This sequel is every bit as good as the original, though it didn't have much to measure up to. Blade has dedicated his life to hunting down vampires. But now he must team up with an elite squadron of them to hunt even deadlier vampire mutants. The frenetic fight scenes are too fast for nonvampire eyes, but those familiar with the original should find plenty to like. By Alex Kaloostian

Sterritt *** An aging cop tracks down the serial killer who murdered the donor of his newly transplanted heart. Eastwood plays the sleuth - a sort of geriatric Dirty Harry - with the same physically taut, emotionally walled-up personality that typifies his characters. He still gets the girl, too. In the director's chair, Eastwood takes a conservative approach, telling the tale efficiently but with few of the imaginative touches that have made some of his films so memorable.

Sterritt *** Crisply made docudrama about a deadly 1972 clash between British soldiers and civil-rights protesters in a Northern Irish city. The movie is more a logistical feat than a historical analysis, but it offers a heartfelt account of a mortal blow dealt to pacifist ideals by violence and militarism.

Sterritt ** They're chambermaids by night, surfin' girls by day, and one of them has the makings of wave-riding stardom. Moviegoing tip: Skip the first hour, but grab a seat in time for the surfing contest that climaxes the picture, complete with mile-high waves and the most graceful ocean-gliding this side of "The Endless Summer."

Sterritt ** Damon plays a spy so afflicted by amnesia that he doesn't know his name, much less the assignment he's supposed to carry out. The movie has director Liman's distinctive stamp, with fidgety camerawork and lightning-quick editing. But he hasn't so much transformed the espionage thriller as submitted to its conventions. A truly fresh treatment of Robert Ludlum's novel wouldn't rely so heavily on shootouts, car chases, and boy-meets-girl clichés.

Sterritt *** Contemporary film's most freewheeling documentarymaker turns his sights on the longtime American love affair with guns, including a living-room confrontation with National Rifle Association leader Heston and a discussion with goth-rocker Manson that's amazingly articulate. Moore turns the camera on himself too often for comfort, but he provides an eye-opening array of revelations.

Sterritt ** In the time of Louis XV, a French detective and a native American mystic uncover a web of skulduggery as they probe a series of killings thought by local peasants to be the work of a supernatural monster. Gans tries to match "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with his ambitious mix of action, romance, and mythic overtones, but much of the historical horrorfest is more frenetic than fascinating. In French with English subtitles.

Staff ** She's an editor at a music magazine. He's a record-company executive. Dre and Sidney have been friends since childhood, but they have never been romantically involved. Dre ends up getting married and Sidney gets engaged, but did they make a mistake? It gets tiresome when Sidney uses hip-hop as an endless metaphor for her love for Dre. The movie has some funny moments, but it ultimately never crystallizes. By Lisa Leigh Connors

Sterritt ** Two filmmakers in Paris 30 years ago - one a documentary director, the other a sci-fi storyteller who can't figure out how to finish his current production - head for confusion when they fall for the same glamorous actress. Coppola's satirical debut film is too ambitious for its own good. But the cast is good.

Sterritt ** The place is newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst's yacht in the mid-'20s, and the characters include comedian Charlie Chaplin, gossip columnist Louella Parsons, and Hearst himself. They're hoping for a pleasure cruise, but the sea breezes carry whiffs of jealousy and danger. Based on a real murder case, this amiably dull comedy-drama resembles its setting: Everything is arranged for fun and diversion, but the vehicle takes too long to get us where we're going.

Sterritt *** The mostly true story of a master impostor (DiCaprio) who passes himself off as everything from a Pan Am copilot to a Harvard-trained physician, cashing bad checks along the way - to the consternation of a workaholic FBI agent (Hanks) who spends years tracking him down. Spielberg's directing is a tad less tricky than usual, but he doesn't have much talent for psychological suspense, which is the heart of the story. DiCaprio underplays nicely and Walken is superb as the con artist's downtrodden dad.

Sterritt *** A corporate lawyer and an insurance salesman become adversaries after a fender-bender, sparking a day-long ordeal of threats and counter-threats. The filmmakers meant to whip up a high-tension thriller. What they ended up with is a psychological satire that's engrossing if you regard it as an absurdist morality tale rather than a suspense yarn. It loses its bite in a last-minute happy ending, but it's a refreshingly novel ride.

Sterritt **** A meandering visit with a collection of characters who have little in common beyond a yen for art and a room at New York's fabled Chelsea Hotel, which hasn't received so much screen attention since Andy Warhol filmed his brilliant "Chelsea Girls" there in the '60s. There's not much of a story, but lots of atmosphere and a jazzlike affection for eccentricity and spontaneity.

Staff **1/2 After too many drinks, Zoe Adler (Tunney) tries to call a cab on her cellphone, but a carjacker forces her to drive. He flees after she runs over a police officer, leaving her to face the music. At first, the film throws an annoying array of cinematic distractions, but Zoe, under house arrest, resourcefully stretches her restrictions. Then she tries to clear her name by finding her abductor before he can kill her. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** A cop faces the prospect of arresting his son for murder, stirring up memories of his own father's execution for homicide and muddling his relationships with his girlfriend and former wife. This melodrama would be more powerful if it stayed with the story's character-driven aspects instead of surrounding them with overdone action scenes. De Niro is great, but doesn't seem involved with his role in the last part.

Staff ** Zak Gibbs, a physics professor's son, accidentally gets hold of an experimental wristwatch that almost stops the world around him. Evil forces kidnap the prof, hoping to turn this invention into a weapon. Zak and friends set out to stop them. At first, a fresh cast and delightful effects promise something special, but the script shifts out of hypertime into plodding formula. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt * Schwarzenegger strikes again, this time as a firefighter who embarks on a vendetta against Colombian terrorists, hunting them in their country and in Washington after his wife and child are killed in a L.A. bombing. The film paints a strikingly hostile portrait of its Latin American characters and some of its mayhem is vicious, even by the debased standards of today's action-movie genre.

Staff *** In this documentary-style film, you see what goes on behind the scenes when one of the most popular comedians gives up his jokes and starts from scratch. Shot in comedy clubs across the US, we see Seinfeld "kill" (have a great show) and bomb. The movie reminds us of the joy in doing something for the joy of doing it, and the dedication that is needed. By Michele Babineau

Sterritt *** Named after the part of the brain that passes signals between the two hemispheres, this avant-garde extravaganza uses digital techniques to morph, twist, and generally slice and dice every object and person it can find, destabilizing time, place, and gender along the way. Snow is a genius who enlarged the fundamental horizons of cinema with his classic "Wavelength," but here his aesthetic and philosophical ideas don't quite keep pace with his technological boldness.

Sterritt *** Caviezel plays Edmond Dantes, a French sailor who hits hard times when his best friend steals his girlfriend, a corrupt magistrate brands him as a courier for Napoleon, and he's thrown into an island prison. Things look up when he escapes, finds buried treasure, and sets about taking revenge on his treacherous enemies. The filmmakers focus more on personalities and emotions than action and violence, and the acting soars even when dialogue sags. Don't worry swordfighting fans, there's plenty of flashing steel.

Staff ** When 11-year-old Beary Barrington learns he was adopted by humans, he leaves home to find more of "his kind," members of the long-disbanded Country Bears singing group. Arriving at Country Bears Hall, he finds it threatened by developers. What to do but reunite the band for a benefit concert. Slow stretches and careless editing weigh against wholesomeness and good songs. Based on the Disney theme park attraction. By M.K. Terrell

Staff **1/2 Australian naturalist and "Animal World" TV personalities Steve and Terri Irwin play themselves in this comedy involving a crocodile that swallows a top-secret satellite part. As the Irwins try to relocate the croc away from a shotgun-toting rancher, the CIA thinks they're spies, and the Irwins think the agents are poachers. This is not a great movie, but you'll learn much about outback wildlife. Small children may find the critters and action scary - I did. By M.K. Terrell

Staff * Britney and pals take off on a cross-country road trip in a convertible driven by a guy with a shady past. Britney's on a quest to see her estranged mom; the others want to win a music contest. Between pop tunes, serious issues emerge: date rape, teen pregnancy, and parental abandonment, but only superficial dialogue occurs. Britney fans will enjoy, though the singing and acting seem manufactured. By Stephanie Cook Broadhurst

Staff ** "Crush" swoops over stereotypes of femininity, as three lovelorn 40-somethings - Kate (MacDowell), Molly, and Janine - meet to swap stories of amorous humiliation over gin, chocolate, and gibes. They are, ostensibly, allies in the quest for love, but when Kate gets involved with a former student, Molly spearheads a scheme to end the affair. Though engaging in its banter and its romance, the film's myopic vision of women borders on misogyny. By Christina McCarroll

Staff *** On a more modest grass-roots level than "The Buena Vista Social Club," this documentary explores the Cuban musical heritage, following veteran singer-guitarist Miguel del Morales, better known as "El Gallo" (The Rooster), across Cuba. Director Dridi supplies little narration, leaving us to observe for ourselves how an oppressed island finds freedom in its culture. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** "Stand by Me" meets "Ghost World" in this coming-of-age story. It centers on two 1970s parochial-school students who express their frustrations by drawing a lurid comic book, but get into trouble when their discontents spill into the real world. It has no profound insights to offer, even when it tackles the grim topic of incest, but nimble performances and lifelike dialogue make it entertaining.

Sterritt *** Producers replace a bribe-taking TV clown (Williams) with a straight-arrow entertainer (Norton) who's shocked by the onslaughts of greed, corruption, and violence he gets from everyone in the kiddie-media world. This pitch-dark satire marked a surprising career change for Williams, who plays the vengeful clown with surprising ferocity. Don't take the kids!

Sterritt **** An apartment complex in Warsaw is the setting for this series of 10, approximately hour-long dramas, loosely based on the Ten Commandments and exploring a wide range of moral, ethical, and psychological issues, from the motivations for capital punishment to the meaning of God. Most are enthralling; some are small masterpieces. Originally produced as a miniseries for Polish television.

Sterritt *** Who would have guessed a documentary about Derrida, the great French philosopher of deconstruction and "différence," would be so entertaining? He emerges as a nice guy as well as a brilliant mind, and he's certainly a master at evading questions. Still, the things he says on camera aren't as profound as the passages quoted from his books.

Staff ** It's 1958, and tensions are high on the streets of Brooklyn. Marco, ex-con and leader of The Vipers, wants to deal drugs in the neighborhood, but Leon and The Deuces will have none of it. Threats, violence, and 90 minutes of tough-guy clichés ensue. The film is full of fury, and the ensemble tries hard, but mob boss Fitzy has it right: They're just kids who need to grow up. By Alex Kaloostian

Staff *** A remote orphanage during the 1930s Spanish Civil War is haunted by the ghost of a boy who has a story to tell and a score to settle. A new orphan bravely tries to solve the mystery and protect his friends. Top-notch acting by both the adult and child actors is marred somewhat by excessive profanity and sexual scenes. In Spanish with subtitles. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt ** The suave British agent starts his 20th screen adventure by falling into enemy hands and getting kicked out of Her Majesty's Secret Service. But don't fret - he's running true to form within a scene or two, wowing everyone with fast escapes, jaunty wisecracks, and amorous escapades. Brosnan is in top form, making the 007 role more his own than anyone since Sean Connery called it quits.

Sterritt * A mother flies into a Louisiana tizzy when her daughter criticizes her in a magazine interview, so her kooky old friends kidnap the erring offspring, convinced she'll change her ungrateful tune if they reveal how many challenges her mom faced during her own salad days. Flashbacks follow, depicting girlish mischief and romance along with alcoholism and illness. Full of logic-defying leaps between farce and melodrama, it's rarely effective.

Staff **** The first incarnation of the skateboard came in with the hula hoop and lasted as long. Director and original "Z-Boy" skater Stacy Peralta fashions an entertaining documentary chronicling the true birth of southern California "skater" cool, a decade later. These daredevils redefined what was possible on a skateboard, creating a guerrilla style that still pervades youth culture. By John Kehe

Sterritt **** In the 32nd film of his extraordinary career, Wiseman continues his practice of probing social institutions via cinema-verite documentary, allowing crisply captured images and sounds to speak for themselves. Here he travels with police to scenes of domestic violence, visits a shelter for battered women, and sits in on education and discussion sessions. Ingeniously structured as a long day's journey, the results are illuminating, harrowing, and riveting.

Dragonfly (PG-13)

Director: Tom Shadyac. With Kevin Costner, Kathy Bates. (100 min.)

Sterritt ** A physician copes with grief after the death of his wife, who was also a doctor, and starts to believe she may be communicating with him through her former patients, kids who've had near-death experiences. The story blends elements of "Ghost" and "Close Encounters" but lacks the romantic charge of the former and imaginative thrill of the latter. Costner is convincing until the sappy finale.

Staff *** Hotshot drumming earns a young African-American a full scholarship to a Southern college, but he must learn humility and teamwork if he's to succeed in music and life. What drives this feel-good film is not the plot, but the drumming performances. It's mostly good, clean fun. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt * Spiders get humongous after a toxic-waste debacle in a Southwestern town. You can guess the rest. Action freaks may enjoy the chasing and chomping, but there's no hint of human interest or moviemaking imagination. Stick with the 1955 classic "Tarantula," still the best of this creepy-crawly breed.

Sterritt **** A young Roman Catholic priest takes a position in a rural Mexican church and gets caught in a tangled web of temptations involving an older priest with ties to organized crime, a local drug kingpin, an idealistic cleric, and a woman he falls in love with. Great acting, intelligent screenwriting, and dynamic filmmaking give this Mexican production an emotional and intellectual charge. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Staff *** Kjell Bjarne and Elling are orphaned 40-year-old roommates in a Norwegian mental institution. The government gives them a city apartment to see if they can cope with independent living. Their mentor has little hope, but his tough-love badgering brings results. This film paints a witty portrait without belittling the pair. Nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** An idealistic classics teacher sticks to his principles when less scrupulous folks let their moral values slide. Kline is excellent as the lovable hero, and the story makes valuable points about the importance of ethics in a society driven by money and prestige. But at a time when public education is in a state of decay, one wonders whether this sentimental ode to old-school dignity is in touch with today's pressing realities.

Staff ***1/2 Napoleon and his retinue on St. Helena Island conspire to spring him from exile by having him trade places with a look-alike deckhand. Once in Paris he will reveal himself, depose the king, and again rule France. Trouble is, no one there recognizes him, and hardly anyone wants the little emperor back. Holm is superb as the erstwhile ruler forced to live as an ordinary citizen under the roof of a patient widow who needs a battle plan to rescue her melon business. By M.K. Terrell

Staff **1/2 A highly successful Bronx drug dealer meets an investment banker and decides to "go legit," adding fuel to the territorial disputes already rocking his world. A well-told story that posits that since the American Dream is all about greed anyway, drug dealing is no worse than any other industry. By M.K. Terrell

Staff ***1/2 "A Beautiful Mind" meets "The Longest Day" as a brilliant mathematician leads a team of British scientists trying to break the Nazis' Enigma code and stop their U-boats before they cut off the North Atlantic shipping routes. But the mathematician's sanity is close to breaking: Is the beautiful blonde he's in love with a spy? And is the dapper British secret agent shadowing him a friend or foe? There's romance and suspense aplenty before several puzzles are solved - and the war won. By Gregory M. Lamb

Staff *1/2 "Slim" (Lopez) is a hardworking waitress who marries a wealthy stranger she meets while serving burgers and coleslaw. Mitch whisks her away into an ostensibly picture-perfect life - but then Slim learns Mitch is a philanderer, and he starts beating her. The ending may seem justified, but unfortunately it teaches the only way to fight violence is with violence. By Stephanie Cook Broadhurst

Staff *** After World War III nearly wipes out humankind, emotion is blamed for all conflict. People are ordered to take a serum that numbs all feeling, and clerics eliminate dissenters - and the paintings, literature, and music they cherish. When a cleric misses a dose, his senses are aroused by the touch of a puppy, the sound of a symphony. The message conjures eerie parallels to Prozac, and the beautiful score sets a haunting stage for the future. By Elizabeth Armstrong

Sterritt *** This graceful documentary explores dance, life, and love through interviews with gifted ballerinas at various stages of their careers. While more performance views would have been welcome, this is a treat no balletomane can afford to miss. In French with English subtitles.

Staff ** Daredevil skateboarders and skiers go to a hotel under construction on an Austrian mountaintop to shoot a camera commercial. Serbian terrorists hiding out at the site cleverly reason that they must be CIA agents. The action and alpine scenery sometimes almost make up for a plot as numbing as the unheated resort. By M.K. Terrell

Facing the Music (Not rated)

Directors: Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson. With Anne Boyd and faculty and students at the Univ. of Sydney. (89 min.)

Sterritt *** This smart Australian documentary looks at shrinking education budgets - and their effects on teachers, students, and society at large - through a visit to a university music department run by an Australian composer, who becomes increasingly politicized as her institution sinks into deeper deficits.

Sterritt **** The time is the 1950s, and the heroine is a well-to-do housewife struggling to find a pathway back to happiness after her husband realizes he's gay and her friendship with a black gardener causes vicious gossip among her friends. Haynes works cinematic and emotional miracles, reviving conventions of '50s melodrama that have gone out of fashion but haven't lost their ability to touch moviegoers' minds and hearts.

Sterritt *** The adventures of an Inuit nomad over 20 years, starting with a mysterious event during his childhood and then detailing his feud with a rival over a woman they both love. There's as much unbridled passion and violent conflict as melodrama fans could ask for. You feel the power of the Arctic setting in each scene, from frantic chases to intimate conversations. The story's refusal to draw solid lines between "good" and "evil" characters shows striking sophistication.

Staff *1/2 A homicide detective enlists the help of a Department of Health employee to solve a string of murders. Or suicides. They're not really sure, and it doesn't matter much. What really matters is that a website is (gasp!) tormenting the souls of all who visit with their own worst fears, such as car crashes, cockroaches, or having to sit through this movie. By Alex Kaloostian

Sterritt ** A glamorous woman participates in a conspicuously spectacular French diamond heist, assumes an incognito life in America, and then heads to Paris, where she and a crafty photographer (Banderas) wend their way toward a predictably unpredictable finale. The story doesn't make much sense, and the actors are more like pieces on De Palma's chessboard than three-dimensional characters.

Sterritt *** This romantic comedy takes a low-key look at a high-strung film festival, using it as the backdrop for intersecting stories about a young actress looking for a break, an aging diva longing for a comeback, an indie newcomer and a studio hotshot scrambling for the same star, and others of their ilk. The cast is superb, and Jaglom's improvisational style works well, turning loosely strung incidents into an easy-going treat.

Sterritt *** In place of the cold-war biases that have affected most US treatments of Castro's career, this well-produced documentary offers a sympathetic view of the Cuban leader's aims and ambitions. If anything, Bravo works too hard at extolling Castro, treating some of the issues - such as the case of Cuban boy Elian Gonzales - with sketchy, imprecise strokes that weaken her overall argument.

Staff ** Elmo McElroy has concocted the next great drug: cheaper, safer, and stronger than anything on the street. He flees his boss and goes to England to sell the formula. Add too many fight scenes, too many car chases, an assassin ex-girlfriend, and some skinheads, and you get an entertaining but muddled rehash of "Trainspotting." Flashy, profane, and pointless. By Alex Kaloostian

Sterritt **** Convinced that God has commanded him to destroy demons disguised as humans living in his town, a man enlists his young sons in a demented, violent crusade. Paxton's debut film as a director is an understated horror movie, relying on spooky moods and startling twists more than grisly gore. Be prepared for a high body count and a few explosively bloody moments, though.

Sterritt * The legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo had a colorful life - great achievements in painting; a turbulent marriage with fabled muralist Diego Rivera; even a close relationship with Leon Trotsky, the communist leader. This biopic gets the facts on screen, but that's about it. Perhaps intimidated by the strength of Kahlo's own artistic personality, Taymor shows isolated flashes of the storytelling inventiveness she brought to "Titus."

Staff * 'Tis the night before Christmas Eve, and the only creature stirring is the Santa Claus burglar, breaking into Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day's (Epps) ghetto apartment and stealing presents and rent money. The frantic hip-hop pace and realistic setting of this third "Friday" movie will help viewers overlook old jokes and sloppy filmmaking. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** Soderbergh tries a freewheeling experiment in this comedy-drama about people making a film and rehearsing a play; it takes place during 24 hours and unfolds in loosely strung scenes. The focus is on mercurial moods rather than logic-driven causes and effects. It's refreshingly different, even if it's low on energy, and too eager to be quirky at moments when a little old-fashioned storytelling would come in handy.

Sterritt *** Scorsese depicts the physical and psychological mayhem that poisoned relations between European immigrants and American bigots in New York City during the Civil War era, focusing on a warlord and the son of an Irish settler he murdered years ago. The film offers a wide-ranging portrait of this bitter period, showing how the evils of ethnic bigotry, political corruption, and blind personal ambition helped shape the foundations of American society in ways that have not entirely faded. The movie is strong in sound and fury, weak in nuance and insight.

Staff *1/2 Formally dressed couples dance on an Italian cruise ship's top deck. But the lush music and pretty pink tiles of this '60s-style opening serve only to set you up for a gruesome massacre. When salvagers find the ship 40 years later, the revelers' ghosts are the least of their worries, as dark forces try to add them to the ship's haunted residents. It's a fairly routine shocker. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt **** What's a well-meaning young woman to do when she's stuck in a miserable marriage, a tedious town, and a boring job, and the only chance for escape is a love affair she can't bring herself to resist? Aniston and Reilly give the best of many excellent performances. A few plotty scenes aside, this quietly directed drama paints a sensitive, sympathetic portrait of modern malaise, and also has a smart sense of humor.

Sterritt ** As the Vietnam War winds to a close, Vietnamese immigrants start preparing for new lives in a California refugee camp. The movie takes a humane look at an episode in history that's received little attention. Duong makes an impression, Swayze shows new maturity, and Whitaker is at his likable best. In English and Vietnamese with English subtitles.

Staff **1/2 Based on true events, this is the first mainstream Holocaust movie to highlight Jewish prisoners who worked in the crematoriums at Auschwitz - and who daily faced the wrenching moral dilemma of prolonging their own lives in exchange for their complicity in ending others'. It focuses on the men of Auschwitz's 12th Sonderkommando, the only group of its kind to foment a rebellion. This difficult, heartrending film ultimately doesn't slow down enough to greatly illumine or enlighten. By Jen McLaughlin

Sterritt **** This towering documentary spans the world in its overview of the war between left-wing radicalism and right-wing conservativism during the troubled '60s and '70s. Completed in 1993 from material first assembled in 1977, it reconfirms Marker as one of the artistically gifted filmmakers in France, or anywhere else. In English, Spanish, and French with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** Eight characters attend group therapy for 21 weeks, and we watch selected moments from their highly emotional sessions, where they face down a variety of psychological problems. The film teeters on a slippery dividing line between realism and fiction. But it gains power from the mercurial nature of its improvised acting and split-screen camera work.

Staff * The action genre reaches new levels of unintentional self-parody in Seagal's latest film. He plays an undercover Fed who is almost killed when his partner blows a fuse. All patched up, he's sent to the newly renovated Alcatraz. But things go horribly awry when ninjas invade. Yes, you read right. This is a mess from start to finish - a noisy patchwork of explosions, clichés, more explosions, and a plot assembled from everything cut from Segal's last six movies. By Alex Kaloostian

Staff ** A "reality" webcaster (Rhymes) sends six college students into Michael Myers's boyhood home to spend the night seeking clues to his behavior. Michael returns to defend his turf, and they all get more than they bargained for. A prologue shows how Michael survived beheading at the end of Part 7 and what became of his sister. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** Refusing to accept the possibility that her photographer husband has died covering fierce combat in Yugoslavia, an American woman travels there and plunges into wartime chaos in a desperate search for him. The film makes a commendable effort to celebrate bravery and underscore war's terrors, but its melodramatic approach is more spectacular than insightful.

Sterritt ** Harry returns for his second school year at Hogwarts, where an unseen enemy is casting an evil spell on students, leading some to think Harry may be the culprit. The film hews closely to J.K. Rowling's novel, decking it out with lavish settings, costumes, and effects. These are impressive in an ostentatious way, but their cumulative impact has a lumbering spirit different from that of Rowling's easygoing prose.

Staff *** In a German POW camp, Lt. Thomas Hart (Farrell) must defend a black pilot accused of murdering a white racist. Hart, with only two years of law school, is up against his colonel (Willis), the self-appointed judge, and an experienced prosecutor. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** The adventures of an Ivy League basketball player and his cronies, including a lover with a mobster dad and a kinky professor. Toback has been transfixed by sex, money, and philosophy as long as he's been making films. The first half finds him at his imaginative best. The second half sinks into silliness.

Sterritt *** Blanchett plays a British teacher who turns vigilante after her Italian husband dies in a drug-related crime scheme. Tykwer doesn't aim for the heights of invention he reached in "Run Lola Run," but he blends an impressively varied palette of moods into an intriguingly unpredictable story. The late Krzysztof Kieslowski, one of Europe's great modern filmmakers, wrote the screenplay.

Director: George Ratliff. With members of the Trinity Church in Cedar Hill, Texas. (85 min.)

Sterritt **** Hell House X: The Walking Dead is the 2000 edition of an annual extravaganza staged by members of a Pentecostal church in Texas doing their bit to spotlight the sinfulness of the modern world. Making this documentary with the cooperation of Hell House participants, Ratliff lets his subjects expose their own follies - zealotry, sexism, homophobia - through the things they say and do. The result is a lively, insightful look at multiple levels of self-delusion among people who truly believe their fun house is making our world a better place.

Staff ** Arnold and his friend Gerald try to stop the corporate Goliath Scheck from tearing down their neighborhood to build a shopping mall. Sketches from films like "Men in Black," and "The Shawshank Redemption" are amusingly woven into subplots in this adaptation of the Nickelodeon TV series. By Chase Clements

Sterritt ** When her husband is charged with a wartime atrocity he never told her about and says he never committed, an attorney (Judd) teams with an old-time military lawyer to clear his name. The story has potential, but you'll spot the plot twists long before they happen, and the acting by Judd and Cavaziel is strictly by the numbers.

Sterritt *** Allen plays a once-lauded film director who tries for a comeback via a project bankrolled by the Hollywood exec his exwife dumped him for; then his subconscious goes haywire, rendering him temporarily blind. This cheerfully absurd comedy isn't brilliantly written, but it takes many amusing shots at the filmmaking scene.

Sterritt *** If one's domestic environment is a kind of autobiography, then the five households visited by this entertaining documentary reveal fascinating lives indeed. One couple lives in a converted missile silo, another in a home designed more for their cats than for themselves. Home, sweet home, was never like this!

Sterritt **** Superb adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel about three women - author Virginia Woolf, a 1949 housewife, and a liberated woman of today - facing emotional crises. David Hare's screenplay ingeniously translates the time-jumping story into cinematic terms, and Daldry's directing subtly orchestrates the motifs (kisses, parties, partings) that link the episodes into a smoothly flowing whole. Kidman, Moore, and Streep do some of their best work, backed by a first-rank supporting cast.

Staff *** The best playwright in L.A. hasn't had a hit in 10 years. Rehearsals for his latest opus are going nowhere. Then there's the barking dog next door, a stalking fan, and his wife, who invites a girl to their house hoping to soften his resistance to fatherhood. Curiously, these irritants work together to lift the cynicism darkening his life, his play, and his marriage. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** A mild-mannered scientist wavers between his hair-covered wife and his pretty but aggressive assistant, and tries to civilize a recently discovered ape-man. This whimsical comedy-fantasy deserves a few points for the audacity of Charlie Kaufman's screenplay. Its problems come from Gondry's directing, which betrays his roots in music video and TV commercials. Every moment is cute and snappy, and that gets tiring.

Staff *1/2 Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson are masters of comic patter, and pairing them in a buddy film does result in some entertaining comic riffs. But everything else is strictly spy by the numbers. "I Spy" grabs its title, but little else, from the '60s TV show, which emphasized cool, witty repartee. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt **** An aging actor relies on work to balance his life after a family tragedy takes a great toll on him, but he eventually finds himself facing the end of his career with mingled nostalgia and regret. Piccoli gives one of the most nuanced performances of his distinguished career, but the star of the movie is de Oliveira, who unfolds the story with unfailing skill and sensitivity.

Staff *** If only the story were as three-dimensional as the wonderfully realized computer animation. It's a fairly standard tale in which an unlikely gang of animals - a mammoth, a sabre-tooth tiger, and a sloth - bond as they rescue a human infant separated from his tribe. What lifts the film is its humor, including a sequence hinting at why the Dodo is doomed to extinction. By Stephen Humphries

Staff **1/2 This alluring and sometimes unsettling comedy begins with Igby (Culkin) and his brother trying to poison their mother and then rewinds to explain how they could do such a thing. Igby, who has worn out his welcome at every East Coast prep school, is shipped off to a military academy by his mother. Igby is miserable and manages to escape to New York. The film is an entertaining ride with its uncommon blend of seriousness and humor. But in the end, there's not much of a meaningful destination. By Judy Nichols

Staff *** This late Victorian-era farce, the first film rendition of Oscar Wilde's play in 50 years, is based on the slimmest of conceits: that only a man named Earnest is marriage material for two English lasses, played winningly by Witherspoon and O'Connor. On the heels of Parker's successful "An Ideal Husband," this dreamy romp is a nice addition to the updating of classic British theater works. By Gloria Goodale

Staff *1/2 In 2079, Earth is locked in interplanetary battle with the ruthless and powerful Centaurians, who have secretly sent an android who is a living bomb. Is our hero (Sinise) still himself, a good-guy scientist, or an impostor? Some fun futuristic gadgets, but otherwise it's routine Grade B sci-fi worthy of an "Outer Limits" episode. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt **** For the first hour, a film director named Bruno works on a movie about the four stages of love - meeting, passion, quarreling, reconciliation - in the lives of couples in different stages of life; the last portion takes place two years earlier, as Bruno visits an elderly couple mulling a Hollywood offer for the rights to their story as anti-Nazi resisters. Godard's masterpiece is as intricately structured as the subjects of memory and history that it explores.

Sterritt *** The aging detective played by Pacino believes a cop can't sleep if he's stuck on a case or bothered by his conscience. He has both problems as he hunts the killer of a teenage girl in a small Alaskan town. Good acting and dramatic rhythms lend moody power to this well-written thriller, which becomes something of a horror movie as the detective's mental disorientation transforms the plot from whodunit mystery to psychological nightmare.

Sterritt *** After surviving a plane crash, a young man strikes a deal with a gambler who seeks out lucky people to participate in games of chance that have extremely high stakes. The story of this Spanish thriller is weak in psychological credibility but strong in suspense, novelty, and imagination. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** An unemployed newsman probes the story of an enigmatic neighbor who claims he wants to unveil his experiences as the second gunman in John F. Kennedy's assassination. This documentary-style fiction is no "JFK," but the story is weirdly compelling when it focuses on the journalist's growing paranoia as he plunges more deeply into a world of conspiracies.

Sterritt *** A widowed minister takes a post in a small Danish town and attends Italian lessons to pass the time, meeting new acquaintances more concerned with figuring out their problems than practicing verbs and prepositions. Scherfig has made the movie in line with Denmark's distinctive Dogma 95 movement, avoiding fancy touches or extravagant effects. There aren't many exciting moments, but the story and performances have a low-key charm. In Danish with English subtitles

Staff * The stunt-filled MTV show has inspired lawsuits from injured copycats. The R-rating means there's now no limit to the gags' tastelessness. Stay away from this one, and don't try it at home. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** An overly imaginative young woman takes a job as an office temp to help with her mother's healthcare expenses; working at a second-rate automotive company, she finds herself in the thick of an industrial-sabotage scheme and a could-be love affair with a fellow employee. Lively acting and an amiable comic atmosphere offer partial compensation for generally lackluster filmmaking.

Staff ** You can't keep a good undead psycho down. The 10th installment in the "Friday the 13th" series brings Jason and one of his hapless victims into the 25th century, when Earth is no longer inhabitable and a dark spaceship takes the place of camp Crystal Lake. Ninety minutes of the usual ensues: running, screaming, and impaling. By Alex Kaloostian.

Sterritt ** John is a working-class guy whose boy needs life-saving surgery not covered by his insurance. After failing to raise enough cash, and getting no sympathy from the hospital's financial office, he becomes a vigilante dad. The early scenes persuasively etch John's fatherly love and raise crucial questions about the US healthcare system. But it's grimly fascinating to watch fine actors wrestle with the increasingly awful screenplay.

Staff *** Squabbling families run their van off a road and wind up in a cafe, where strangers teach them about compassion and mercy through a delightfully updated telling of the Jonah story. Aimed at children, but filled with gags for adults, this is the first theatrical film based on the popular VeggieTales video series. By M.K. Terrell

Staff *1/2 Angry over his ejection from a game, ace basketball player Jamal Jeffries flashes the crowd and earns an indefinite suspension. Desperate to play, he joins a women's team as Juwanna Mann and begins to learn sportsmanship and humility. The cast, including team captain Fox and long-suffering agent Pollak, exhibits sportsmanship by fighting gamely with this worn-out material to produce some amusing moments. By M.K. Terrell

Staff *** True story of a near-nuclear meltdown aboard a cold-war-era Soviet submarine might not seem likely engaging material for 21st-century American audiences. But history and geopolitics provide only a backdrop here. A fine corps of actors, led by Ford and Neeson, make this an uplifting tale of survival against powerful technology run amok. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt *** Clad in a veil that hides her identity and intentions, an Afghan woman tries to enter her homeland from Iran on a rescue mission to her sister. During the journey, she witnesses suffering but sees the strength of people who assist her, including a US medical worker. This drama by one of Iran's great filmmakers casts a light on fundamental human conflicts.

Sterritt *** You won't hear the familiar strains of Bizet's opera, but you'll recognize the classic story of a proud seductress, able to mesmerize anyone she fancies with her sensual beauty. The soundtrack pulses with the music of Senegal, where this energetic movie was filmed. In French and Wolof with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** Documentary about the active life and checkered career of small-time Hollywood actor and big-time producer Robert Evans, based on his autobiography and narrated by the celebrity himself. Admirers will enjoy the inside dope on movies like "The Godfather" and "Rosemary's Baby," while detractors will zero in on his unsavory spell as a drug abuser. The overall effect is too self-worshiping to be of lasting interest. The guy sure isn't shy!

Sterritt *** Itching for affection but disillusioned with the men she meets, a young woman decides to explore what being gay is like, choosing a partner who's not entirely sure what she wants in life, either. While this slightly edgy comedy has moments of offbeat charm, it would carry more conviction if the acting were richer and the characters focused on more sophisticated attitudes and ambitions.

Sterritt * A group of young Brooklyn thugs invade a small Montana town to retrieve a satchel of illicit cash they've lost there, coming to blows with various locals including a sheriff who's as corrupt as they are. The story is a string of sub-Scorsese clichés, and if engaging actors like Malkovich and Hopper seem to be sleepwalking through their roles, imagine how unwatchable Diesel manages to be.

Sterritt *** An amiable documentary journey through the unique culture of Yiddish theater, as experienced by old-time stage star Pesach'ke Burstein and members of his family. The movie is more a family album than a historical study, but you'll learn a lot and your toe will tap, tap, tap. In English, Yiddish, and Hebrew with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** A courtly account of the skittish friendship between an Englishwoman living in France during the French Revolution and a curmudgeonly French aristocrat who confronts his tumultuous age with an unsteady set of divided loyalties. Rohmer shot the movie with digital video, lending a sense of exquisitely crafted artifice that enhances the tale's historical atmosphere. It's deliciously acted, too. In French with English subtitles.

Staff ***1/2 In 1893 India, villagers protest the doubling of their annual grain tax (lagaan). The British captain strikes a wager: Beat the officers' cricket team, and no lagaan for three years, or lose and pay triple. All seems hopeless until the captain's independent-minded sister offers to teach them the game. This simple plot is the premise for a sumptuous feast of sight and sound, with comedy, a love story, and deftly integrated song and dance. It's the most expensive Indian film ever, and it looks it. Hooray for Bollywood! By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** An architecture student moves to Beijing and becomes sexually involved with a high-powered businessman, with results that change both men's lives. This well-directed Hong Kong drama is at its best when it captures the casual affection that grows between the main characters. The screenplay by Jimmy Ngai is based on an anonymously written Internet novel. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** It took 24 years for this 1978 drama to reach its theatrical première, which is scandalous, since it's a first-rate achievement. Irons plays a self-centered German working on a scholarly thesis in the countryside near Dublin, and Dench plays a down-to-earth Irishwoman who becomes his ill-suited lover.

Sterritt *** A grieving mother, an adulterous police officer, and the hunt for a missing person are among the ingredients of this detective thriller, which explores the insecurities of four married couples. While the movie is well acted, its story and style are too self-consciously clever to build a high degree of emotional power.

Sterritt *** Documentary about the collaboration between children's-book author Sendak and the Pilobolus dance troupe to create "A Selection," an internationally successful dance dealing with Holocaust themes. The film is hardly a blistering look behind the scenes, but it gives a more balanced account of the creative process - including disagreement - than most arts-related movies of its ilk.

Staff *** A couple's announcement that they're expecting their first child seems to trigger an upheaval in the lives of family and friends. Beneath a farcical surface is a serious exploration of commitment and fidelity, along with a tip of the hat to the great Italian cinematic tradition. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** After the death of their closest chum, four old friends go for a long drive to dispose of his ashes by the seaside, reminiscing about the past in flashbacks that gradually reveal the complex ways in which their lives have crisscrossed over the years. Good performances by a distinguished cast don't overcome the weaknesses of the predictable screenplay.

Staff *** Brilliant, contemplative, superbly cast.

Sex/Nudity: 4 scenes including implied sex and some nudity. Violence: 4, including war scenes and a fistfight. Profanity: At least 12 expressions. Drugs: 20 scenes with smoking and drinking.

Sterritt **** After an unpromising start, this unpredictable comedy-drama becomes a dazzlingly funny-sad account of a man's attempt to avoid an arranged marriage despite his family's insistence on keeping traditions alive in the Republic of Georgia. The acting is superb, the filmmaking is imaginative, and the story never goes where you expect. In Georgian, Hebrew with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** A well-to-do Protestant clergyman falls in love with a younger woman, complicating his passage through the World War I era and subsequent years of changing social conditions. Assayas has made more exciting films, and this drama is longer and more leisurely than it needs to be. It's very elegant, though, with strong acting by a distinguished cast. In French with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** An ambitious TV newswoman takes a fresh look at life and love after a sidewalk psychic tells her she has a week to live. This slickly produced romantic comedy takes its creaky premise down the most predictable, sentimental pathways it can find. If the heroine really had seven days left, she wouldn't waste it watching stuff like this.

Staff **1/2 Some may see this as a feature-length commercial for the NBA. They'd be right. But it's also a good-hearted fairy tale about finding a family and your dreams. An orphan (Bow Wow) discovers a pair of magic sneakers that make him a basketball phenomenon. But what he wants even more is a home. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt *** Lilo is a bratty Hawaiian girl whose dysfunctional family gets worse - and then predictably heals - after she befriends Stitch, a bratty genetic experiment who travels to Earth from a distant planet. Kids will love the fantasy and adventure of this cleverly written animation, and grownups will appreciate its whimsical humor. All this plus six Elvis Presley songs on the soundtrack!

Sterritt ** Emily is a gifted and disciplined adolescent who may succeed as a budding violinist if she doesn't get distracted by the new boy in her neighborhood, and if she can come to terms with an innocent secret she carries bottled up inside her. This easygoing comedy-drama is gentle and wholesome, if not very realistic or convincing in the long run.

Sterritt ** Frodo and Sam head for the dark land of Mordor to destroy the ring of power before evil Sauron can use it to enslave Middle Earth forever. The second installment in Jackson's trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien's marvelous novels is more effective than "The Fellowship of the Ring" partly because it isn't weighed down with plodding exposition. But its greatest asset is Gollum, almost as creepy on the screen as he was in Tolkien's pages.

Sterritt *** Two sisters cope with personal problems while fretting over the latest whims of their eccentric mother and the insecurities of the African-American preteen she adopted. Holofcener makes good on the promise she showed in her 1996 comedy "Walking and Talking," neatly balancing humor and poignancy while eliciting splendid performances from her gifted cast.

Staff ***1/2 Juana "the Mad," daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, succeeded her mother to the throne in 1504. But her insanity kept her from ruling, and she spent 47 years in a remote castle. This lavish telling of the story suggests that Juana wasn't mad - just desperately in love with her unfaithful husband - but that medieval minds weren't ready for her Renaissance behavior. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** Bibiane is a French-Canadian woman whose comfortable life goes sour while she's still shy of 30. Things get bleakest when she runs down a stranger with her car; hope returns when she meets his grieving son, who likes her but could turn against her if he discovers her ties to his late father. This eccentric melodrama would be more effective if it didn't have so many self-conscious directorial touches. In French with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** Lopez plays the title character, a single mom who cleans hotel rooms while dreaming of a better life she doesn't think she'll really achieve, and Fiennes plays the handsome politico who sweeps her into his arms. The stars of this toned-down "Pretty Woman" clone don't exude much romantic chemistry, but Wang moves the action along smoothly and has the good sense to make Manhattan itself one of the most prominent attractions.

Staff *** Desperate to find a way to support his family, struggling novelist Byron Tiller (Garcia) accepts employment from a well-tailored stranger (Jagger). When Byron's wife learns that the source of the family's newfound prosperity is the Elysian Fields escort service, she leaves him. Through this sad experience, Byron finds his voice as a writer, along with hope and redemption. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt **** This documentary about an Afghan resistance leader who struggled against the Taliban despite crushing odds led de Ponfilly to look more deeply at his own fascination with brutal warfare in far-flung places. The movie doesn't reach any deep insights, but its mixture of psychology, philosophy, and realpolitik is downright riveting. In French and Pashtu with English subtitles.

Staff **1/2 Pistachio Disguisey (Carvey) doesn't realize he's heir to a lineage of disguise masters because his father opted out and opened an Italian restaurant. An old enemy kidnaps mom and dad, and Pistachio's long-lost grandpa shows up to teach him the disguise trade to rescue them. None of it makes sense, especially Pistachio's ability to mimic any dialect but standard US English. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt **** After World War I, a Jewish art dealer in Munich befriends an aspiring painter named Adolf Hitler, thinking he can distract the young man from his crazy political ideas by encouraging his creative instincts. This moodily filmed drama traces the roots of German fascism not only to the demented notions of the Nazi Party but to German culture in the early 20th century. It also reveals a key aspect of fascism's cynical use of art and architecture to mesmerize a weak and vulnerable society.

Sterritt ** Agent J needs Agent K to help him combat Serleena, a Victoria's Secret model who's really an insidious alien; but K has lost all memory of his top-secret career, and the high-tech gizmo they need to retrieve it is in the hands of a guy who's weird even by MIB standards. That's just the starting point of this moderately amusing sequel, which is best when it relies on dead-pan acting by the stars, worst when it drags in summer-movie stupidities like an incessantly talking dog.

Sterritt **** Lang's science-fiction classic was shortened by its distributors after its 1927 première, and this restoration is probably the closest we'll ever come to the original 153-minute version. The movie packs a visual wallop with its portrait of a future world that breeds hatred among oppressed workers, self-centered leaders, and a bizarre scientist whose newest invention - a seductive robot - sparks catastrophe.

Sterritt *** The year is 2054, when clairvoyant "precogs" enable police to arrest murderers before they kill. Cruise plays a dedicated cop who's accused as the would-be killer of someone he's never heard of. Most of the movie is clever, imaginative, and savvy in its questions about social anxiety and government power. Too bad Spielberg also indulges the kiddie side of his talent, cooking up a silly chase sequence that only video-game nuts will be able to watch without wincing.

Sterritt *** Celebrants gather in New Delhi for the Punjabi wedding of a bride who's not sure she's ready for matrimony. Despite its entertaining trappings, this is a thoughtful story, touching on sensitive issues of sexuality and child abuse. Nair hasn't lost her eye for revealing details of personality, behavior, and environment. In English, Hindi, and Punjabi with English subtitles.

Sterritt * After his fiancée is tragically killed, a young man moves into her parents' home, where he gets caught between the conflicting goals of pleasing needy friends or being true to his own desires. This fuzzy-minded drama fails to build much emotional power. What's a superstar like Hoffman doing in a meandering soap opera like this?

Sterritt *** After the suicide of her boyfriend, who was an aspiring novelist, a working-class woman takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation with a pal, hoping for newfound wealth if she can pass her lover's unpublished manuscript off as her own. Morton acts up a storm, and Ramsay continues her rise as England's hottest young female filmmaker.

Staff ***1/2 Martha is a perfectionist chef in Hamburg who can't quite cope when her 8-year-old niece comes to live with her. There's no recipe for raising Lina, but slowly Martha finds a new rhythm - especially when she gets over feeling threatened by a free-spirited chef who joins the staff at her restaurant. Not to be seen on an empty stomach, this beautiful film is equal parts drama and humor, seasoned with a hint of romance. By Stacy A. Teicher

Sterritt ** After his wife's death in a mysterious car accident, a Washington reporter finds himself stranded in a small town plagued by enigmatic incidents and weird visions of catastrophes to come. The first third of this overambitious horror yarn builds an ominous mood of menace and suspense; the rest is drained of dramatic energy by uneven acting and a too-long running time. Gere shows an impressive ability to undergo emotional ordeals without mussing his neatly combed hair.

Staff * No matter what name Adam Sandler assumes, he's the same persona in every movie: the ultimate village idiot savant. In this remake of Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," he plays a simpleton from Vermont who's whisked to New York to collect a $40 billion inheritance. Deeds finds himself attended by more butlers than you could cram into Gosford Park. But nefarious interests are sniffing around. Though the film has a "wealth doesn't equal happiness" message, it's clear filmmakers put more thought into product placement than storytelling. By Stephen Humphries

Sterritt *** And you thought William Shakespeare wrote his own plays? This entertaining documentary makes a lively argument that his works - even sonnets - were penned by Christopher Marlowe, who allegedly faked his own murder at age 29 and high-tailed it for Italy, smuggling his plays back to England under an assumed moniker. All right, it's a far-fetched theory. But it's fun to think about, and Rubbo's collection of quibbling scholars provides a colorful account. Will the real Bard of Avon please stand up?

Sterritt *** Earnhart met the residents of a rural trailer park in Florida while shooting a music video, and stayed to make this documentary about a handful of would-be filmmakers who create a home-grown horror flick starring themselves. The result is as deliciously eccentric as the characters it chronicles.

Staff ** Bullock stars as a wise-cracking investigator whose own dark past is a mystery. She quickly figures out who committed a horrifying crime, but can she prove it? Gosling and Pitt shine as her troubled-teen suspects, and Chaplin is fine as a low-key partner and potential love interest. A must-see only for Bullock fans. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt * An ugly duckling gets a makeover, goes to college, and snares the man of her dreams even though he's not Greek enough to please her parents. The title could have been "My Big Fat _____ Wedding," since the screenplay is a string of stereotypes and clichés that have worn out their welcome in comedies about Italians and Jews, and will surely be recycled in by-the-numbers farces about other ethnic groups in years to come.

Staff ***1/2 A happy heart is the first casualty when a man's affection for his movie-star wife is bedeviled by pangs of jealousy for her role in an arousing screenplay. This humorous French film is exquisite, handling the drama of a suffering marriage with delicacies of character that save the plot from being yet another formulaic lechery-fest. By Aaron Bingham

Sterritt **** A little knowledge can be a wonderful thing, or so it seems to the hero of this delightful comedy-drama. He's an Indian man living in Trinidad, where his smattering of book learning brings him enough local prestige to become first a masseur and healer, then a small-time writer, and then an aspiring politician - though each step up the ladder of success doesn't necessarily bring more of the personal happiness he's in search of.

Sterritt * A young cop with a bad career history (Patric) rejoins the force, teaming with a violence-prone colleague (Liotta) who's under investigation for a long list of abuses. The movie is designed to show off Liotta's acting skills, but pointless mayhem and sheer nastiness crowd out any virtues it might have had.

Staff * Van loves being big man on campus so much he's been an undergraduate for nearly seven years. Truth is, he's afraid to try his people skills in the real world. What shakes him out of it is a serious-minded journalism major trying to crown her college career with a story on him. What could've been an off-the-wall comedy collapses under its own excesses as these two hatch obscene revenge plots against her vacuous boyfriend. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt **** All three parts of Reggio's adventurous "qatsi" trilogy are free-association documentaries exploring the idea that humanity has fallen out of balance with the natural world and needs to realign its psychological and spiritual priorities if it is to survive and prosper. This last installment focuses on "life as war," but the shimmering beauty of Reggio's images and the pulsing allure of Philip Glass's music suggest an optimistic prognosis for our uncertain future.

Staff *1/2 Dizzy Gillespie Harrison (Qualls) is a high school senior who stretches the boundaries of geekiness, until a convict teaches him you don't need a magic wand, a spider bite to be cool - you just need an attitude. His newfound charisma inspires a whole school to greatness. Now all he needs is a little humility. An earnest young cast brings welcome freshness, but rationality and cohesiveness skipped class. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** Large-scale adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel about a young man who encounters a motley list of friends and foes while trying to rescue his family from poverty. Some portions of the film are a Dickensian delight, especially when Broadbent's slimy Squeers and Tom Courtenay's good-natured Noggs are on the screen. But Hunnam isn't up to the title role. It's an uneven film, but Dickens admirers shouldn't miss it.

Sterritt *** The nine queens are a set of artfully forged postage stamps that draw a couple of petty swindlers into a money-making scheme that may prove far too tricky for them to successfully pull off. This cleverly structured Argentine heist movie isn't as original as it tries to be, but it's fun watching the chicanery veer down one unexpected pathway after another. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** Following the trail of a missing news team, a journalist (Polley) meets an Icelandic monster who passes the hours of his endless life by cursing fate and killing any human who crosses his path. Like some movie creatures of the past, this odd villain is baffled and enraged by his inability to live comfortably in the world, and the movie gains poetic power through Hartley's view of him as a kind of tragic hero, worthy of pity as well as fear.

Staff **1/2 This follow-up to Margaret Cho's one-woman concert "I'm the One That I Want," which chronicled a Hollywood experience that nearly killed her with drugs and dieting, is more upbeat. Cho's "be yourself" humor points out the absurdity of sexual politics, especially among gays and lesbians. Charmingly, in "Notorious" she gives her Korean parents - often the butt of her jokes - screen time to defend themselves. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** Williams plays a seemingly bland photo clerk who's become dangerously obsessed with a local family whose pictures he's been processing for years. Williams's acting is as chilling as it is restrained, but Romanek's directing damps down the drama's psychological impact, making it look as two-dimensional as the snapshots that run through the photo man's finely calibrated machines.

Staff ** Hanks and Fisk make a charming couple in this tale of a class president fighting to get into Stanford after his school sends the wrong grades. Kevin Kline, Ben Stiller, Chevy Chase, and others in minor parts lend support. Unfortunately, the material doesn't. The filmmakers can't decide if they're making a teen romance, a wry look at suburbia, or a broad farce. By M.K. Terrell

Staff *** Based on the true story of a young American who travels to the exotic island of Rarotonga to become a missionary in the 1950s, the film carries a simple, yet meaningful message about God's healing power and how it can bring people together. By Lisa Leigh Connors

Staff *** Ace (Harris) is unhappy behind the counter of his uncle's dry-cleaning business, but holds out against friends' enticements to deal drugs with them. Finally, the lure of fancy cars and promise of a better life are too great, and he succumbs. The story, based on real-life dealer A.Z. Alpo, barely touches on drug users, concentrating rather on the trade's devastating effect on the pushers themselves. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** A woman and her daughter scurry to a bunkerlike sanctum when crooks invade their Manhattan home to steal a fortune that happens to be locked away in the panic room itself. This minimalist thriller relies on hyperactive camera movements to juice up any scene where the acting sags. There are many, since the screenplay isn't nearly clever enough to sustain a reasonable degree of suspense.

Sterritt *** Three aging Belgian women face big decisions when the care of a mentally backward sister falls into their hands. Debrauwer brings crisp conviction to what might have been an overly sentimental tale, filming it with a good-natured sincerity that rings consistently true. In Flemish and French with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** This movie looks at three separate tales of troubled young women: one on the run from an abusive husband, one sorting through mixed emotions as her professional fortunes rise, and one a pregnant runaway with a horrific past. The episodes don't give as much insight into their subjects as one would hope, but Miller shows talent as a director with a sharp eye for images, a keen ear for dialogue, and a refreshing willingness to take risks.

Sterritt *** Fact-based drama about the experiences of concert pianist Wladislaw Szpilman in Warsaw after Germany's defeat of Poland in 1939, where he survived in hiding as Nazis occupied the city. Polanski has personal links with Polish suffering in the Nazi era, and his movie has a sense of emotional urgency and deep-dwelling grief.

Sterritt *** Huppert is brilliant as a music teacher whose obsessively respectable life masks deeper, darker desires that break through the surface when she becomes fixated on a man she's just met, disrupting the orderly existence she shares with her demanding mother and sparking self-destructive actions that build to the story's bleak conclusion. Its grimness is explicit, so approach it with caution.

Staff *1/2 "Powerpuff Girls," could use a little more power and a lot less puff in its storyline. This film, based on the Cartoon Network series, tells how three kindergarten heroines became protectors of good. Young children, especially girls, will enjoy the lighthearted adventure, but adults may prefer to take several long trips to the snack counter. By Stephanie Cook Broadhurst

Sterritt *** This engrossing documentary follows a number of cases handled by San Francisco public defenders. Some end happily for the lawyers and defendants; others emphatically don't. The movie's TV-style production values are a little too slick, but the real-life stories are fascinating to watch.

Promises (Not rated)

Directors: Justine Shapiro, Carlos Bolado. With B.Z. Goldberg and children of the Jerusalem area. (106 min)

Sterritt ** Filmed over four years, this documentary presents a multifaceted portrait of seven children, Palestinian and Israeli, growing up with strikingly different worldviews despite their physical proximity to one another. In English and Arabic with English subtitles.

Staff ** Alpha Omega Pi sorority, always runner-up as sorority of the year, decides the way to beat the Tri-Omegas is to coach a group of disabled athletes. Ricci, much to her own and everyone's horror, falls in love with her severely challenged protégé. Ricci is always worth watching, but she can't save this satire, which, wades into subject matter too deep for its broadly farcical approach. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** A small-time businessman copes with a nagging family, eludes a con artist, and woos a woman who's as kooky as he is. Anderson's filmmaking is quirky and original, but his biggest creative coup is drawing on submerged aspects of Sandler's usual screen persona - a wounded insecurity, a sense of repression that's almost violent - to give the comedy an edgy undertone that's one of a kind.

Staff ** Roused from a 200-year sleep by 21st century rock 'n' roll, Anne Rice's vampire Lestat becomes a rocker himself. His fame brings back his mentor and wakes the mother of all vampires, Queen Akasha (Aaliyah). This one is a failed effort, but the only opportunity to see the late Aaliyah in a starring role. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt **** Caine plays a jaded British journalist covering the French Indochina war in the early '50s. Fraser plays an American who claims to be on a charity mission but is really scheming to help a renegade Vietnamese general gain control. Based on Graham Greene's 1955 novel, this thoughtful drama deals with a host of timely issues including terrorism, international strife, and the use and abuse of American power. Caine and Fraser are superb.

Sterritt ** A feisty 14-year-old girl rebels against Australia's policy of taking mixed-race children like her away from their parents and putting them in training schools for menial work. She engineers an escape with her young sister and cousin, trekking 1,500 miles in an effort to return home. The fact-based story provides action and suspense, but Noyce makes little effort to capture the inner lives of the girls or the friends and foes they meet.

Sterritt *** This is a psychologically charged story of a 13-year-old girl whose adolescence is complicated by sexual tensions linked with her parents' troubled marriage. Jeffs is an unusually gifted director, but her screenplay never quite gets a firm grip or fresh perspective on its coming-of-age subject.

Sterritt ** A young woman with a hearing disorder strikes up an uneasy friendship with a recently released convict who takes a low-level job at the office where she works and then starts slipping back toward crime. The first half is a well-acted psychological drama, but the second half is standard thriller fare. In French with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** A young Mexican-American works in her sister's dress factory, spars with her conservative parents, and dreams of going to college over their objections. The story is trite, but the acting is lively and the music is delightful.

Sterritt *** Hopkins makes his third appearance as Hannibal Lecter, psychiatrist and cannibal, joined by Norton and Keitel as FBI agents tracking down a new serial killer (Fiennes) with Lecter's grudging help. The story is a rehash of "The Silence of the Lambs" featuring Norton in the Jodie Foster role, with solid acting and hardly a special effect in sight.

Staff ** How do you reinvent the monster movie? How about casting a mythological creature that is as much a part of biblical lore as ancient Chinese culture: the dragon. Here, hibernating dragons reawaken and, by 2020, have reduced mankind to little bands of feudal refugees. When one such group in England meets a group of US soldiers, they join forces to vanquish the beasts. Result? Ridiculous macho posturing, as McConaughey's soldier chews more scenery than even the toothiest of the dragons. By Stephen Humphries

Resident Evil (R)

Director: Paul Anderson. With Milla Jovovich, Eric Mabius. (100 min.)

Staff ** When a nasty virus is released in a secret lab, the compound's artificially intelligent security system locks everyone in and kills them. But the afflicted don't stay dead long - they turn into zombies on a quest to seize control of the world. It's up to a group of government commandos to stop them. Heroine Jovovich is the only thing that really shines in this film. By Alex Kaloostian

Sterritt *** It's taken Walt Disney Pictures almost half a century to follow up "Peter Pan," but fans of the 1953 animated classic will find many familiar faces in this belated sequel, which follows Wendy's daughter on her adventure with wicked Captain Hook, magical Tinkerbell, the pirates and Lost Boys, and Peter himself. The story lacks the freshness of the original film and the J.M. Barrie novel that inspired it - and whose idea was it to replace the ominously ticking crocodile with a funny-looking octopus?

Sterritt *** Convinced that a TV commercial is invading his mind and body, a New Yorker poses as a reporter to get the facts he needs to strike back, and his girlfriend gets lost in a labyrinth of health-care bureaucracy as she tries to get him treated for the dementia she thinks he suffers from. Although the dramatic and satiric elements of this offbeat movie don't quite mesh with each other, it still gives an adventurous ride through territory few other films have explored.

Staff ***1/2 Rachel, a reporter for a Seattle paper, is asked to investigate the deaths of four teens, who all died seven days after supposedly watching a haunted video tape. Soon, her own family is in danger, and she must solve the mystery before the tape's visions overcome her. This is one of the most intelligent and genuinely scary ghost stories to come around in a long time. By Alex Kaloostian

Sterritt ** Reading a stack of decades-old letters she's found, a woman learns about 1940s life in the Mississippi Delta through the words of her aunt, whose adventures included giving birth to a baby out of wedlock and having an African-American best friend. This low-key drama is always warm and mellow, although it doesn't build much of an emotional charge.

Sterritt ** Hanks plays a 1930s hit man seeking revenge against the mobsters who killed his wife and son. Mendes surrounds the slow-moving plot with a lonely, dreary view of middle America in the Depression. The cinematography provides much moody atmosphere, and Law is terrific as an enticingly weird thug; but the plot has huge holes, and it's hard to swallow the notion that we should love an assassin because his heart is full of family values.

Sterritt **** After getting dumped by his latest girlfriend, a womanizer named Roger and his 16-year-old nephew Nick set off on a quest for romance in the bars and byways of Manhattan, where Roger's temerity and Nick's timidity prove a predictably poor combination. As shaggily comical as it often is, this sharply directed satire deals with two serious themes - the age-old clash between innocence and experience, and the amazing powers of self-delusion. Scott is excellent; so is everyone else.

Staff *1/2 Jonathan is the best player in the world's most dangerous game, a confusing mix of skates, motorcycles, balls, and fireworks. Even players don't understand it. LL Cool J as Jonathan's buddy and Reno as a franchise owner who'd kill his star to boost ratings, are watchable, but why not just rent the '75 original? By M.K. Terrell

Staff ***1/2Quaid plays a teacher-turned-Major League Baseball player in this Disney movie based on the true story of Jim Morris. While coaching a losing season of high school baseball, Morris cuts a deal: If his players start winning, he'll try out for the majors. For adults who think G stands for "goofy," Quaid's intense performance will convince them to take this film seriously. By Ben Arnoldy

Sterritt * Sex and love meet fear and loathing on a college campus in this hyperactive adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel. Most of the characters are one-dimensional, and Avary's over-the-top directing doesn't make them interesting for more than a few isolated moments.

Sterritt **** A time traveler and a 19th-century French aristocrat ponder the vicissitudes of Russian and European history as they wander the corridors and galleries of a monumental Russian palace, witnessing large and small scenes from the country's turbulent past. Filmed in a single 90-minute-plus shot that makes cinema history this sumptuous masterpiece is an unforgettable treat for the eyes, ears, and mind. In Russian with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** Imprisoned in an asylum at the height of the French Revolution, the aging Marquis de Sade refines his subversive philosophy, plans his latest theatrical production, and works his seductive wiles on an aristocrat's daughter. Auteuil is a superb actor. Still, the real-life Sade would be dismayed to see himself portrayed more as an eccentric old codger than the world-changing firebrand he worked hard to be. In French with subtitles.

Sterritt ** Plot twists proliferate in this gimmicky thriller about a seemingly drug-dazed loser who turns out to be cooler and more calculating than he appears. Full-throttle performances by D'Onofrio and Goldberg provide the most memorable moments. Otherwise the film gets less interesting as it goes along, and Tony Gayton's violence-prone screenplay is sometimes as hard to fathom as the salt-smothered California lake it's named after.

Sterritt ** Allen reprises his 1994 role as an ordinary guy who's taken over Santa's job. This time he has to marry a Mrs. Claus, get his misbehaving son off the "naughty" list, and save his workshop from a malfunctioning Santa robot, all before Christmas Eve. Allen does well with all three of his roles, ably helped by the Disney makeup department. The rest of the acting is bland, but the movie's preteen target audience won't mind, and adults will find occasional grown-up jokes to chuckle at.

Sterritt *** A single mom adds spice to her life by taking gigs as a nightclub belly dancer and striking up a romance with a younger man, bringing complications to her relationship with her teen daughter. Sincere acting and heartfelt filmmaking add energy to this unassuming Tunisian drama. In Arabic with English subtitles.

Staff *** The wild and droll canine Scooby-Doo and his villain-chasing friends reunite for a spooky adventure in this live-action adaptation of the animated TV series. A theme-park owner calls on the Mystery gang to uncover the reason visitors leave the park as zombies. The story offers enough incentive for adults to stay and kids to watch - so give yourself a Scooby Snack! By Chase Clements (age 13)

Staff **1/2An evil warlord is sweeping across the Near East, and it's up to the last of a long line of assassins to stop him, win the girl, and save Gomorrah (for the time being, of course). Surprisingly, pro wrestler "The Rock" is the best part about the film. By Alex Kaloostian

Staff ** This reworking of Shakespeare's MacBeth is set in a rural Pennsylvania diner. Joe McBeth, a cook, and his waitress wife, Pat, conspire to eliminate the owner of Duncan's and turn it into a fast-food McDonald's clone. Some creative adaptions to the Bard include Lady McBeth's guilt manifesting as a deep-fat fryer burn that won't heal. Director Morrissette tries too hard to make the dark comedy feel like "Fargo." By Seth Stern

Sterritt **** On a remote island in the Persian Gulf, a young woman combs the countryside for people to cast votes in the ballot box she carries with her, accompanied by a grumpy soldier who - like many folks - knows this is all very important but isn't quite certain what elections are for. Payami's gentle comedy captures a subtle range of human feelings through a quietly inventive visual style. In Farsi with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** A woman with a self-punishing streak takes a job with a lawyer who spanks her for spelling mistakes. The movie works hard to be naughty, but its sub-David Lynch style doesn't quite click. Gyllenhaal is excellent, and Spader effectively adds to his roster of creepy characters.

Sterritt * While trying to serve a subpoena on a winsome wife in a divorce case, an ex-lawyer takes her side against the arrogant spouse who dumps her. Perry and Hurley don't have much chemistry, and the story is so dumb you might want to sue it for stupidity.

Staff **1/2 An obsessive young woman barges into the life of a novelist, giving him motivation to overcome his writer's block. Adding fuel to the fire is his meeting a daughter he didn't know he had and the daughter's sexy nanny. We see his life as it unfolds and as he adapts it in his book. This surrealistic blend of life and fantasy works well most of the way. But beware - the film more than lives up to its title. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** Did you know there was a bustling community of Jewish refugees in China during the Nazi era? This earnest documentary tells its tale, complete with recent visits to the area shot with smuggled-in digital cameras.

Sterritt * A jaded Los Angeles cop and a fame-hungry colleague become the unlikely stars of a reality-TV series. The movie tries to offer something for everyone, from comedy to car chases. But the filmmakers are so busy cramming all this into 95 minutes that they forget to make the scenes funny, touching, suspenseful, or anything else that might make the film worth watching.

Sterritt * A clergyman who's lost his faith regains it while undergoing an attack by aliens in the farmhouse he shares with his brother and kids. The film raises important issues of religion and the meaning of life, but every time it promises to get thoughtful, Shyamalan douses it with family-values clichés, tepid space-monster suspense, pretentious camera work, and humor that's never, ever funny. Think "Roswell" meets "Father Knows Best."

Sterritt * A has-been director tries to restart his career by creating a computer-generated cyberstar and passing her off as an elusive actress. This might have been a savvy satire on today's celebrity-struck media culture, but Niccol unfolds the story at a lumbering pace, peppered with not-funny gags and dramatic scenes that build little emotional power.

Sterritt ** Outraged by social problems that plague the South Dakota reservation where he lives, a native American sheriff turns to vigilante violence, with results that boomerang on his own conscience and well-being. The story gets off to a slow start after its riveting documentary-style introduction, but heartfelt acting and unexpected plot twists eventually give it solid dramatic impact.

Staff **1/2 A Miami dentist learns he is adopted when he inherits his birth mother's Alaskan sled dogs. Amid predictable slapstick episodes, the film champions courage and tenacity, and raises surprisingly serious issues: racial harmony, appreciation of adoptive parents, and the worth of every child. By M.K. Terrell.

Sterritt *** Astronauts on a space station investigate a mysterious planet that's really a living entity capable of haunting the Earthlings with replicas of people with whom they had troubled relationships. The story comes from Stanislaw Lem's brilliant novel, and Soderbergh's style is strongly influenced by Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's classic 1972 version.

Sterritt *** Flustered by family and personal problems as he heads into middle age, a mildly successful restaurateur helps his elderly father and mentally failing mother have the church wedding she's always wanted. Energetic acting and filmmaking help this likable Argentine comedy-drama avoid the sentimentality that intermittently threatens it. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** A gentle psychotherapist and his family face unexpected trauma when his teenage son dies. The drama relies on straightforward screenwriting and unassuming performances for its emotional power. Moretti's acting skills aren't up to the demands of the main role, and his portrait of family life is too simplistic to be credible. In Italian with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** In place of a conventional plot, this utterly unique Swedish movie offers a series of related episodes about a business tycoon on the skids, a magician whose tricks go wrong, and a motley crew of other characters. Some are funny, some are tragic, all are dreamlike and unpredictable. In Swedish with English subtitles.

Staff DUD Three frat brothers, framed for stealing, disguise themselves as women and hide out in a feminist sorority until they can clear their names. Of course, no one recognizes them. As the boys learn to respect women, we wonder why the filmmakers have none for the audience. By M.K. Terrell

Staff *** The teen turned superhero after being bitten by a mutant spider delivers a visually impressive turn, saving damsels and confronting his own demons in a satisfying high-tech action flick. Parents will appreciate the emphasis on duty, while teens will enjoy the coming-of-age struggles of an extraordinary kid trying to get the girl - and save the world. By Gloria Goodale

Sterritt ** The adventures of a wild stallion, the young Indian who befriends him, and a mean-tempered cavalry captain who wants to break his will. The proudly traditional style of this kid-friendly animation seems rather tame in the age of "Monsters, Inc.," but the action is mild enough for fairly young children, and grownups may enjoy its old-fashioned spirit.

Sterritt *** Echoing the dreamlike logic and weird transformations of "Alice in Wonderland," this ambitious Japanese animation is an allegory on individuality and a glimpse into contemporary Japanese culture, as well as an imaginatively told fantasy.

Staff *** Rodriguez crafts an imaginative sequel for kids that reflects his own creative urge to play - including enough nifty gadgets to make 007 drool. This time, the Cortez family's mission is to track down a device that may destroy the world. The trail leads to an island filled with hybrid animals. At times this colorful adventure causes sensory overload. But it teaches valuable lessons, like the importance of family and integrity. By Stephanie Cook Broadhurst

Sterritt **** The self-named Funk Brothers were enormously gifted studio musicians who accompanied a wide range of Motown stars, from Stevie Wonder to Smoky Robinson and the Miracles. They changed the course of pop music while receiving little of the acclaim or attention they deserved. Justman redresses this injustice in his rollicking documentary about them, which will have your toes tapping and your ears sizzling.

Staff *1/2 The crew from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" pilot the 10th Star Trek movie to the screen. But the warp drive is off line, and this alleged adventure never picks up much speed. Captain Picard must face an evil younger version of himself, with Earth and the Federation at stake. But the lack of fresh ideas leave viewers with something closer to Star dreck. By Gregory M. Lamb

Sterritt ** Anakin Skywalker is now a fledgling Jedi knight who helps Senator Padmé hide from assassins while Obi-Wan Kenobi probes a threat from Dark Side enemies. The film has a broader range of emotions and visual effects than any installment since "The Empire Strikes Back," but the writing and acting are as stiff as R2-D2's metal torso. If clones are so scary, why does Lucas keep cloning pop-culture clichés he's latched onto from other films, including his own?

Staff *** John has a great fiancée, a decent job, and has saved enough money to buy a house and get married. Everything seems perfect - until his niece is accepted at Harvard and reminds him of a pledge he made to pay her tuition. Running out of time and options, he turns to an ill-fated career in crime, along with his mentally unstable friend. Zany antics ensue. By Alex Kaloostian

Staff **1/2 On a quest to emulate St. Paul, the son of an Irish-American firefighter joyfully befriends the neighborhood rabbi and his boy, hoping to set one of them on a path to salvation. This heart-warming debut film of Jones, set in '70s Chicago, won the Project Greenlight screenplay contest. It's a bit contrived at times, but clothes its message of tolerance with wit and sweetness. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** The maker of "Happiness" and "Welcome to the Dollhouse" tells two tales in this outrageous comedy-drama. The first, "Fiction," probes the psychosexual tensions between a disabled student, his fickle girlfriend, and their creative-writing teacher. The second, "Nonfiction," follows the exploits of a wannabe filmmaker who decides to shoot a documentary on a pallid teenage boy.

Sterritt **** This film documents the story behind Billie Holliday's longtime association with the jazz protest song "Strange Fruit," including the tale of its authorship by a Jewish high school teacher whose other good deeds included adopting the children of executed communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. This is a riveting treatment of a fascinating subject.

Staff ***1/2 America's unlikeliest action hero is a five-inch mouse with a heart as big as Central Park. As voiced by the incomparable Michael J. Fox, Stuart Little is struggling with fitting in at school and his mom's overprotectedness. Just as Stuart is wishing for a friend, an adorable canary falls from the sky into his lap - and his heart. Nathan Lane is again hilarious as the cat Snowbell. A winner for kids and parents alike. By John Kehe

Staff **1/2 The fourth in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series to make it on screen, this film imagines the US after a terrorist nuclear blast destroys Baltimore. It arrived amid much speculation about America's readiness to see terrorism as entertainment, but the director chose to show little damage. More chilling may be the US president's willingness to deploy government agents to assassinate the bad guys. By Gloria Goodale

Sterritt ** This ambitious drama sweeps through a Florida town with a skeptical eye, focusing on a civic booster with an artificial smile, an unhappy motel manager with too many men in her life, and an African-American woman revisiting her home after years away. Sayles has assembled an impressive cast, but he's so busy orchestrating these lives into a symphony that he doesn't manage to give each person the details a persuasive portrait needs.

Sterritt ** A young New York fashion designer visits her Southern hometown to divorce her husband, sparking bittersweet reunions and a chance to rediscover her roots. This glossy romantic comedy doesn't have a speck of authentic heart or soul - you can bet its Hollywood creators wouldn't move to Alabama if their lives depended on it - but it provides a colorful setting for Witherspoon's charm.

Staff * Best friends Christina (Diaz) and Courtney (Applegate) claim to love a life of one-night-stands. Until one finds her true love, that is, when they abandon the single life to chase him down. This unoriginal comedy is nothing more than a recitation of platitudes and stereotypes. By Katie Nesse

Sterritt * A fisherman is stranded on a deserted island with the rich, obnoxious woman he works for, and both succumb to their worst instincts before inevitably falling in love. Giannini makes a promising English-language acting debut. Madonna gives the most tiresome performance of her career. The material girl is running out of material!

Sterritt ** "Fatal Attraction" goes to high school, as a pretty psychopath stalks a swimming-team hunk with deadly results. Polson's well-filmed thriller swims down the usual lanes for this genre, and everyone looks way too old for senior year. But many of the suspense scenes work fine, and Bradford is terrific as the endangered hero.

Sterritt *** The setting is a South Carolina resort town, and the main characters are a discontented working girl, her party-girl best friend, and a sexy new girl who's just arrived on the scene. Sprightly acting, understated emotions, and lovingly detailed ambience make this amiable comedy-drama an easygoing indie pleasure.

Sterritt * A precocious prep-school student falls in love with his stepmother and has an affair with one of her best friends. The dialogue rarely rings true, and the only well-rounded performance is Neuwirth's as the middle-aged seductress.

Sterritt **** The main characters are two very different men caring for women in long-term comas, and the message is that the power of love and compassion must never be underestimated, even when the recipients seem oblivious. The intricate story is challenging to follow and sometimes perverse in its content. There's no mistaking the rays of optimism shining at its heart, though. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Sterritt *** Imaginative adaptation of Giacomo Puccini's great opera. Most of this French production aims at dramatic realism, skillfully etching the love-struck painter Cavaradossi, the wicked police chief Scarpia, and the fatally deceived title character. Jacquot adds modernist touches, though, as when he shows real Roman locations in home-movie-style footage. In Italian with English subtitles.

Staff *** The captain of an elite commando unit and his best friend, a radical rabbi's most brilliant student, both love the rabbi's independent-minded daughter. When she chooses the captain, the student begins planning a massive, far-reaching bombing scheme in the Middle East. Only the captain can stop it, but he's under arrest as a co-conspirator. This surprisingly low-key exploration of the radical mindset won the Israeli equivalent of an Oscar. By M.K. Terrell

Sex/Nudity: Some innuendo. Violence: 5 scenes, including a beating. Profanity: A few mild expressions. Drugs: 6 scenes with tobacco use and drinking.

Sterritt * The great-grandson of "Time Machine" novelist H.G. Wells directed this heavy-handed version of the classic tale about a scientist who travels from the turn of the 20th century to the distant future, where life has become a tragic standoff between two races: innocent Eloi and apelike Morlocks who cannibalize them. The movie overdoes the love angle, and then it overdoes the violence angle. Stick with George Pal's colorful 1960 version.

Sterritt **** Disillusioned with his life, a businessman stops working and hides this from his family. He hooks up with a small criminal operation, abandoning this when he finds it just as spirit-killing as ordinary work. The story gathers power as he exhausts one option after another, making his future seem more ominous. Cantet's previous film, "Human Resources," also probed social and ideological problems tied to family and work. He has rich insights into this material, and brings them alive through sensitive acting and powerful filmmaking..

Staff * For those who get their kicks from karate, meet Jason Statham, Britain's bald-headed answer to Vin Diesel. In this film, Statham's black BMW is a car-for-hire in Southern France. One day, he discovers that the "package" he is to deliver is a Chinese woman who knows too much about a global slavery ring. And that's the whole plot. The choreography and editing are sensational, but the nonstop action soon numbs. By Stephen Humphries

Staff ** Joe Hickey (Bacon) has the perfect kidnap-for-ransom scheme. He knows it's foolproof, because he's tried it before. But on what is to be the last caper, he underestimates the power of parental love. The director has assembled a fairly efficient thriller, discounting the overblown climax. But are fictional child abductions what we need right now? By M.K. Terrell

Staff **1/2 Disney's latest animated film launches Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" into outer space. Emma Thompson's voice is put to excellent use as the modern, feminine Captain Amelia, but the most valuable gem in this film is the combination of handrawn and computer-generated animation. By Stephanie Cook Broadhurst

Sterritt *** The widow of a adventurer learns she's the heiress to millions of hidden dollars and meets threatening people who believe they have a right to it. Newton and Wahlberg are well cast, but there's little chemistry between them, and the story is so busy springing surprises, it forgets to develop much feeling. Ultimately this remake of 1963's "Charade" is just a razzle-dazzle chase picture.

Sterritt *** A teen girl is abducted by a backwoods family that fears she's discovered a closely guarded treasure - the secret of human immortality, available to anyone who drinks from a nearby spring. Meanwhile, she's sought by her parents and an enigmatic stranger. The story is engrossing after a slow start. Kingsley is perfect as the menacing outsider.

Sterritt **** This is a quietly told drama of two young men, their troubled father, and their efforts to carve out a satisfying life on their modest farm as financial and emotional problems loom. Such understated storytelling, sensitive directing, and avoidance of easy filmmaking tricks are all too rare in American movies. This is truly one from the heart.

Staff DUD One would be hard-pressed to witness a bigger waste of time, talent, money, or popcorn than this latest Jackie Chan vehicle. The hackneyed "plot" involves a high-tech, gravity-defying tuxedo that transforms shy, klutzy taxi driver James Tong (Chan) into a master secret agent, fabulous dancer, and suave ladies' man. Too bad it couldn't make this turkey disappear. By John Kehe

Sterritt *** She's an idealistic lawyer, he's the devil-may-care businessman who hires her, and you know love-sparks will fly before the final credits roll. Bullock is cute. Grant is even cuter. They have the timing and panache of a first-rate comedy team. They should make a million movies together.

Staff * "Undercover Brother" should have stayed undercover, brother. Imagine "Shaft" meets "Austin Powers," but not as cool or as funny. Our jive-talking hero (Griffin) is recruited by a group of vigilantes trying to bring down "the Man" after discovering that he is distributing mind-controlling drugs through a fried chicken fast-food chain. By Stuart S. Cox Jr.

Staff **1/2 George "Iceman" Chambers (Rhames), heavyweight boxing champ, goes to prison for a rape he denies, but is mean enough to have committed. There he encounters Monroe Hutchens (Snipes), an introspective lifer, undefeated in the prison fight program. It's inevitable that the two will meet in the ring. Director Hill's spare, macho style manages to keep things moving enough that you don't think too much about plausibility. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt *** Tragedy ensues when a well-to-do woman starts cheating on her conscientious husband with a flighty intellectual she's met by chance. Steamy sex scenes aside, this is one of Lyne's most carefully crafted dramas, helped by solid acting and a well-developed sense of time, place, and atmosphere.

Sterritt *** Virgil is determined to start a new life after finishing his prison term, but he falls into bad company despite his good intentions. A few miscalculated scenes aside, this low-budget drama is stunningly smart and powerful, with real-as-life lead performances and a style as gripping as it is unpretentious.

Staff **1/2 After a prank injures a student, a principal orders the most popular boy in school (West) to tutor underprivileged kids on weekends and act in a play. Both jobs throw him in with Jamie, the ethical minister's daughter (Moore). The film may be trite or weepy in spots, but it's a celebration of decency. By M.K. Terrell

Sterritt ** On a hunt for buried treasure, a lonely man makes peculiar acquaintances in a seaside Japanese town, including a woman whose body is attuned to nature in disconcerting ways. Imamura has directed near-legendary films like "Vengeance Is Mine," but his acute sense of color and offbeat storytelling style aren't enough to make this sensual fantasy more than a whimsical trifle. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Sterritt *** The setting is a Canadian urban complex, and the main characters are four young workers who've made a bet on who can go longest without venturing outside for a breath of non-recycled air. This smart, creative social satire skewers cheaply dehumanizing architecture and self-absorbed yuppie mentalities.

Sterritt * Gibson leads US soldiers through a blood-filled battle of the Vietnam War in this fact-based but cliché-riddled melodrama. The filmmakers dish out guts-and-glory archetypes, meanwhile, every female character is portrayed as a midcentury stereotype. How can so much money and star power add up to so little authenticity and conviction?

Sterritt **** Spending a get-away weekend in a borrowed farmhouse, a city couple has a tense feud with a demented deer hunter, and their eight-year-old son copes with his anxieties through encounters with a rage-filled phantasm. Fessenden's latest horror yarn is a smart and scary voyage into the uncanny realm where hard realities, mind-spinning myths, and hallucinatory visions blur.

Sterritt *** A group of scruffy German activists turn to political violence when the Berlin wall is crumbling, and then become average citizens who want to put the past behind them - until police find a piece of long-buried evidence that could land them all in jail unless they pull off one last caper to get it back. This energetically acted, creatively directed comedy-drama has every ingredient for success except a satisfying finale. In German with English subtitles.

Sterritt **** A streetside salesman falls instantly in love with a woman who wants to buy a wristwatch from him. But she's heading to Paris for an extended stay, so he consoles himself by resetting every clock he can find to French time. Meanwhile the elusive traveler has a random series of Parisian adventures. Tsai's style is unique, unfolding the tale in static shots that allow you to discover their surprises on your own. In Cantonese, Mandarin, and French with English subtitles.

Sterritt ** A 15-year-old shuttles through a series of foster homes after her strong-willed mother is imprisoned for killing her abusive boyfriend. The acting is heartfelt and Kosminsky directs with quiet assurance. The story is too schematic, though, watching the heroine take on the coloration of each new environment as if she had almost no mind at all.

Sterritt **** Eliza can talk with animals, which is handy in the African wild, where she lives with her eccentric parents, a chimpanzee named Darwin, and a self-absorbed sister. It's less handy when she's sent to a British boarding school where neither she nor Darwin fit in, and worse yet, poachers are threatening her elephant friends back home. Lively characters, snappy dialogue, and snazzy visuals make this an uncommonly fine animation.

Sterritt * A marine sergeant is ordered to accompany a Navajo code talker into battle and protect him from harm - or kill him if there's a danger he'll be captured. The film claims to celebrate native American contributions in World War II, but its main priority is to let Woo create lots of the choreographed violence he's built his career on. It doesn't help that Cage is the opposite of subtle, grimacing so much he seems to be acting with his teeth.

Sterritt * Extreme sports meet cold-war politics as our hero gets recruited by the government to battle an anarchist gang in Eastern Europe. If your idea of star power is "buff to the max" with "attitude to spare," as the publicity puts it, then Diesel is your man. But do we really need a warmed-over James Bond adventure with 007 transformed into the village idiot?

Sterritt ** Faced with serious problems in her life, a woman takes off on a road trip with two teen boys fueled by youthful energy, various intoxicants, and hyperactive sex drives. Cuarón gives an offbeat flavor to this coming-of-age tale by combining up-close camera work with a modernistic third-person narration, and by touching on noteworthy social and political issues in the margins of the story. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Staff ***1/2 This engaging love story is simultaneously humorous, beautiful, and real. The story takes place in Israel under the threat of war with Iraq, when an Israeli filmmaker crosses paths with a Russian émigré. The film's rustic moments of joy and poignant glimpses into the human situation will affirm what you already knew: life has a funny way of working out. By Aaron Bingham